Sunday, July 24, 2011

Sunday, July 24, 2011 Pilgrimage to Sheshan Basilica, Shanghai, China Saturday, 23rd July 2011 Introduction Shanghai is a beautiful and cosmopolitan city set against the backdrop of colonial French and British architecture that line the famous HuangPu River, also know as The Bund. It has been three weeks since I set foot here to start a new part of my career with the bank I currently work for. China may be the next up and coming economic power but it is also a vast country rich in ancient history. It would be insane to be based in China for the next few years and not see any of it, let alone learn and experience the charm of its ancient cultural heritage. I have made it a point to visit as many places in China as I can in the time that I am stationed here. I started with visiting Xitang last week which is an ancient water village located 1.5 hours outside of Shanghai in Zhejiang Province. This weekend, I decided to visit the Sheshan Basilica in the suburbs of Shanghai in Songjiang District. Background of Sheshan Basilica (Extracted from Wikipedia) For the sake of accuracy, I have extracted the history of Sheshan Basilica from Wikipedia and appended it below. 1863: The official name of the church is the Church of the Holy Mother in China. The first church on She Shan hill was built in 1863. During the Taiping Rebellion, Jesuit missionaries bought a plot of land on the southern slopes of the hill. A derelict Buddhist monastery had stood on the site. The remaining buildings were demolished, and a small building was constructed as living quarters for missionaries, and a small chapel. At the peak of the hill (where the Maitreya hall had stood), a small pavilion was built in which was placed a statue of the Madonna. 1870: Unrest in Tianjin led to the burning of churches there. The Shanghai Jesuits prayed at the statue of the Madonna and pledged to build a church to her honour in return for her protection. Subsequently, construction of the church began. Wood was shipped in from Shanghai, and stone bought from Fujian. All material had to be ported to the peak by hand. The church was completed two years later. This first church was in the form of a cross, and incorporated features of both Chinese and Western architecture. A veranda was placed outside the door, with ten columns. Eight stone lions were placed before the church. In 1894, several ancillary buildings were added. These included a chapel half-way down the hill, a shrine to the Sacred Heart, the Virgin Mary, and St. Joseph. Fourteen Stations of the Cross were constructed along the path to the church. 1925: The existing church was found to be inadequate, and it lagged far behind other churches in Shanghai in terms of size and ornamentation. The church was demolished and rebuilt. Because the Portuguese priest and architect ( ) was very stringent about the quality of construction, the whole project took ten years to finish, and the church was completed in 1935. 1942: Pope Pius XII ordained the She Shan Cathedral a minor Basilica. 1946: The Holy See crowned the statue of Our Lady of Zose (Zose being the Shanghainese pronunciation of She Shan) at the apex of the tower. 1949: The Communist takeover and She Shan Cathedral was heavily damaged during the Cultural Revolution. The stained glass windows of the church, carvings along the Via Dolorosa, the statue atop the bell tower, and various other works of iconography were destroyed. 1950s, Ignatius Kung Pin-Mei the Roman Catholic bishop of Shanghai was arrested and imprisoned for over 30 years and the Chinese government put the basilica under the control of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association and Chinese bishops not recognized by the Vatican, and condemned by the papal encyclical Ad Apostolorum Principis. After the Cultural Revolution ended, the damage was gradually repaired. The statue was initially replaced with a simple iron cross, and a replacement statue was installed in 2000. May 24, 2008 Pope Benedict XVI announced that he had composed a special prayer for Our Lady of Sheshan. Planning my trip This week after much pondering, I decided to do something I know my wife would probably kill me for. Now, it's crucial that I use the appropriate terminology or I might find myself banished to Sheshan for the rest of my life. I decided to "invest in long term assets" and based on my long term projections up to 3 years, will definitely bring some returns. High Risk = High Returns. I invested in a Canon EOS60D. I believe the last time I had a decent DSLR was one which my wife bought for my graduation in 2003. It's still around and has pretty much run it's course. Although of course, she would argue that I have also made about 100 investments in other smaller assets between 2003 and now. But hey, no soldier goes to war armed with just a rifle, right ? I was first introduced to Sheshan from an email my father had sent about the Sheshan Basilica. I did some homework the night before to find out the location of Sheshan. When searching for Sheshan in Google Maps, it's important to get the correct Sheshan as there are a few other places also called Sheshan in different parts of China. After reading through dozens of websites and confirming the location, I prepared my field pack which included my new camera, a bottle of water, iPod, iPhone and spare t-shirt. The only fear factor in this whole trip was the thought of the train journey. It was the idea of the weekend masses and all the pushing and shoving. Sheshan Station is located on Line 9 of the Shanghai Metro and four stations from the last end station called Songjiang Xincheng. From Shangcheng Station which I embarked, total train journey was 41 minutes and 17 stops. Line 9 (Medium blue line) So after a quick bite at a cafe next to the station, I got on the train and plugged into my iPod. Ever since arriving in Shanghai, I noticed that all the expats that worked here always had earphones on wherever they went and I wondered why. After two weeks, I realised they did it to drown out the loud talking, constant nonsensical car horns and the occasional horrendous sound of hocking (of phlegm). The decibel level of this country seems louder than other countries I have been to. As the train passed through the city and into the suburban space, city slickers disappeared and were replaced by ... less slick people. A word of caution, as you get within a few stops of Sheshan, keep your eyes peeled and watch out for the rural people. Meet the Hockers (They can't tell street from train floors when it comes to spitting!) After what seemed a lifetime, I got out of the station and was welcomed by the incredible heat. It was 2pm and the temperature must have been 36 deg C easily. So, I grabbed the first cab and told the guy to take me to Tian Wen Tai, an observatory built by the Jesuit missionaries. In China, you have to be a little more subtle about being Christian as they're still all weird about it, considering that in some areas, the faith is still very much forced to be practiced underground. That would be as close as it gets to saying you were going to see the church. Note: As you exit the station, you will notice plenty of drivers flashing car keys and touting their services. AVOID them as they charge exorbitant rates. Head out towards the road side and you will see a taxi line by the bus stop. The foot of the Sheshan Hill is about 10 minutes from the station by taxi and the fare is about RMB19.00. I read countless blogs about preparing for a long walk up the steps and walking up the zig zag hill where the 14 Stations of the Cross were. When I saw the steps, I felt a little deflated. Picturing steps in your mind and physically seeing it can be very different. Gantries lined the entrance of the hill and a payment stood to the right side. I went to the booth and walked through an open gate and was scolded by the lady. I made out from her mix of Mandarin and Shanghainese that she was not happy about me walking through without paying but said if I walked long path up to the Church, it was free. Otherwise, pay up. So I saved my RMB30 and walked. Entrance to Sheshan Hill There was about 60 leading steps leading up to the first open space where a pagoda stands. I was panting and dripping with sweat like I had just finished the London Marathon. I searched for a water point desperately and out of the corner of my eye, appeared a man with his t-shirt rolled up to his chest calling out to me to buy his water which I did. We said nothing more and he said goodbye, smiled and waved me on. The path up was gentle and directions were well labelled by signs. The steps were gentle and gradual and bamboo trees lined the left side of the path most of the way up. The bamboo foliage was a beautiful deep green colour and the gentle rustling of its leaves oozed a feeling of zen and a certain sense of peace.

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